Posted on 02/21/2010 4:57:31 PM PST by familyop
A 3-year-old girl was killed late Saturday afternoon after it was attacked by a pit bull that was chained to a tree outside her home, sheriff’s officials said.
The child was unresponsive when emergency personnel arrived on scene at 5:15 p.m., officials said. The attack occurred at 6540 NE 25th Avenue in Oak, just outside Ocala city limits, at a property marked “Haaker’s Dream Bulldog Ranch.”
According to Jenifer Fisher, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, the child’s mother was cleaning the dog pen and the 3-year-old was playing in the yard outside the pen area. The mother went inside the home to use the restroom, at which point the child somehow wandered into the pen, where it became entangled in a chain harnessing one of four pit bulls, Fisher said. One of the dogs, a male, then attacked the child.
Each of the American pit bulls, registered at the American Kennel Club, was chained to a separate tree inside the pen, Fisher said.
“It was a bad dog attack,” Fisher said.
It wasn’t clear whether the door to the pen was unlatched, or how the child managed to get inside the area housing the pit bulls. The mother did not immediately see the child when she came back outside. She suffered a minor injury on one of her fingers when she entered the pen and neared the animal.
Marion County Animal Services took possession of all four pit bulls, even though only one is believed to have been involved in the attack.
The pitbulls, white to beige in color, were driven off the property by Animal Services, two in each vehicle, caged in separate holding areas in the back of the van.
If the dog involved in the attack is deemed “vicious” following an investigation, it will be euthanized, said Elaine Deiorio, an Animal Services representative. A fifth pit bull, a puppy, was inside the home at the time and will not be taken into possession.
While authorities are not releasing the name of the child, the mother’s name is Lori Haaker, age 47. Another child, in his early teens, was inside the residence during the attack, Fisher said. The father and three other children were not home.
The property is buffered by a large yard surrounded by a fence. A two-lane road is in front of the yard. There is a trailer behind the property, which the owners rent out to another individual, according to Fisher.
The parents breed and shows pitbulls, according to Fisher. The Web site for Haaker’s Dream Bulldog Ranch indicates the club raises and shows bulldogs. Thomas Lamon, a neighbor, said he recalls the Haakers holding dog shows in their yard. He does not know the family personally, he said. The home, Lamon said, was occupied by former County Commissioner Randy Harris nearly a decade ago.
The Major Crimes unit of the Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into the child’s death. An assistant medical examiner was also on scene to determine the exact cause of death.
Family members and friends arrived on the property as darkness set in. They hugged one another and declined to provide any comment. The sound of dogs barking could be heard near the property as the night wore on.
Its News.
The owners of the dog and/or the parents of the child are culpable for this appalling and senseless tragedy.
Thanks. I’ve tried several times over the past year or so, but pit bull mauling crime news is not allowed under crime or news here. The news stories were all reassigned to “chat,” “pets/animals” or the like.
TANKS,,,did the other thread get pulled ?,,,
Sure seems like news to me...
“Chat” or “Chet”? I wonder if any Freepers are waking up to this.
Actually, I think FR should have a separate area for posts called “Today’s Pit Bull Maulings”.
"We are working toward a personal goal in our breeding program where the emphasis is on a temperament that is above all, people and child friendly."
Would you call the dogs in that pic “bull dogs” I would call them pit bulls
“...after it was attacked...”
“IT”!!!????
How about “she”?
Wow! A human being reduced to "it".
Front and center - pit bulls are the jihadists of the dog world!
Need a new category called “Chet Missed One”. ;-)
The girl is an "it"?
You are deliberately using incorrect reports.
The people bred American Bulldogs.
LOL, Duncan
But,they LOOK like pits, so any dog that looks like a pit is automatically a pit. Right, Chet?
Stop spamming the threads with that dishonesty. Under the law of most jurisdictions banning pit bulls, they’re pit bulls. It’s common knowledge.
Looks like you have been fooled also.
UPDATE 02/21/09: Lori Haaker, the mother of the child, is an active breeder of Scott type American bulldogs and hybrids. The two Haaker dogs depicted in the photo clearly illustrate pit bull type dogs (See: Pit bull faq) and once again raise the issue of exactly how to classify the Scott type American bulldog. The Scott type and breed standard is by definition a pit bull-mix, as the breed was directly developed by crossing early Johnson lines with the American pit bull terrier. Pit bull breeders, owners and kennel clubs of have been disguising the pit bull's name since 1935. The Scott type American bulldog seems to be the latest outcrop. Though Haaker's website, dreambulldogranch.com, appears to be offline, one can browse the site's web archives. We found this page particularly ironic: "We are working toward a personal goal in our breeding program where the emphasis is on a temperament that is above all, people and child friendly."
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